Too many cooks spoil the cream-of-chicken soup --eaten cold, straight from the can?

Pioneer Press

Posted:
06/06/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
06/09/2014 01:37:52 PM CDT

IGHGrampa reports: "Katie and Brant and kids are home again and staying with us for a while. There are four kids, aged 9, 6, 4 and 2.

"We were in the kitchen working on scaring up a lunch -- Katie, me, and the four kids. Katie was looking for some mac-and-cheese. What kid does not love mac-and-cheese? We didn't have any and weren't inclined to do any cooking. I couldn't figure out what I wanted. Some cream-of-chicken soup sounded good, but maybe I wasn't quite hungry enough to open the can, add some water and heat it in the microwave.

"When small kids are hungry, they don't always know exactly what the problem is. They're just feeling peckish, anxious and maybe a little irritable. They were all just sort of noisily milling about underfoot, pestering one another.

Eden, the 9-year-old, is old enough to help, but that meant another cook in the kitchen. Then IGHGramma came home from an errand -- one more cook. It was time to vacate myself from the kitchen.

"It's later now, and they sound quieter. Maybe I'll go out and consider that soup again. I have, on occasion, eaten it right out of the can. There's a French name for a sort of meat pudding that's eaten cold. I can't think of that now, but it sounds good."

NativeDuluthian: "In 1959, Duluth had not yet acquired a McDonald's or any of its chain copycats, but a Duluthian had seen those kinds of places in California and realized the potential.

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He started up the London Inn, right next to the DQ on London Road. It instantly became a huge success, with the parking lot constantly jammed with customers' cars. The owner had two or three years before McDonald's and its competitors moved in, driving him out of business. I'm sure during that time he made a ton of money. More than a couple times while I was eating in my car (there was no sit-down facility at the London Inn -- just a walk-up window), I saw the owner either arrive or leave in his new Cadillac.

"I distinctly recall the price of food at the London Inn, as every penny was very important to me at that stage of my life. Hamburgers were 19 cents, fries were 15 cents and a soft drink was a dime, bringing the cost of a full meal to 44 cents. Now and then I would upgrade the hamburger to a cheeseburger at the cost of an additional nickel. I thought that slice of cheese added a lot of flavor to the hamburger."

Life as we know it (responsorial)

OTD from NSP: "There was in item in Friday's BB about an older woman with purple hair.

"Several years ago, when I still was trying to stay ahead of the gray, I had my hair 'foiled' on a regular basis, to 'blend in' the gray with the fast-disappearing brown. One day, the newly foiled hair had a definite green tint (think Wicked Witch or Hulk). My hairdresser had no idea what had happened; she had mixed the color the same as usual. Took most of the day to correct. That was also the day I stopped foiling and went short and gray.

"I remember older women with 'blue hair' to 'brighten the white' when I was a kid. Now I use a purple shampoo once a week to 'highlight the white.' If it's used every day, your hair develops a purple tint.

"We do strange things to enhance our appearance."

BULLETIN BOARD OBSERVES: The key word there, of course (and very often not the fact), is enhance.

Our theater of seasons

And: Our times

Birdwatcher in La Crescent: "Aah, the sounds and sights of summer are here!

"The guy across the street from us is out mowing his lawn ... and wait, what do I see? Yes, he is holding on to the mower with his left hand and has his right hand up to his ear with the cellphone! We could almost hear his side of the conversation, but the mower was too loud -- so how in the world was he able to hear what was being said on the other end?

"Also, now that the schools are out, there seems to be an awful lot of skin showing on the females ... and not all of it is pretty."

'I Would Never Have Imagined'

Or: Something to that effect (responsorial)

John in Highland: "The Spooner Grouch's story about farmers in their seed hats [BB, 6/5/2014] brings back memories of my dad, Ed, when he had retired as an engineer and took over running the family farm down in Illinois. He acquired a sizable collection of seed-company hats, which he wore in combination with his dress shirt and pocket protector. (Old engineer habits die hard.)

"The standing joke around the farm was:

"Q. Why don't farmers wear tennis shoes?

"A. Because the seed companies don't give them away!"

Know thyself

Retirement Division

The Grand Duchess of Grand Avenue: "Well, it finally happened. Somewhere in the past month, I realized I have stopped waking up at 6:30 a.m. in a panic, thinking I'd be late to work. It's been almost a year since I quit my Monday-through-Friday job. Old habits do die hard!

"I'm also finding some weeks that I don't remember what day of the week it is (scary!). I guess I do better when I have something scheduled every day specific to the day of the week."

Everyone's a copy editor!

Friday email from Sunshine in Roseville: "Subject: Wow!

"Page 1B, today's SPPP sports page: If Flip Saunders had a 4111-326 record between 1995 and 2005, how come the Wolves never won a championship?"

BULLETIN BOARD SAYS: Most likely some combination of Glen, Kevin and Flip himself (not to mention, and please don't, Ndudi & company)!

The vision thing

Headline Division

Tuesday email from Gma Tom: "A headline in today's SPPP: 'Co-valedictorians share GPA, DNA.' First sentence identifies them as identical-twin sisters. Well, in that case I'd guess they share more than GPA. How about Gma, Mom & Dad?

"Oh, GPA, not Gpa. Never mind."

Vanity, thy name is...

Red's Offspring, north of St. Paul: "The personalized plate on the pickup headed south through Ham Lake on Highway 65 declared: 'OLD GMC.'

"My thought: RSTY 2."

The highfalutin amusements

Dtr #2 of White Bear Lake: "The auto-correct function can be frustrating when incorrect words are substituted for what was intended. However, today it provided me with a laugh-out-loud moment.

"I texted a friend, who replied that she was at her son's graduation celebration event. My response showed up as 'What a beautiful day for their castration!'

"Thank goodness I caught myself before hitting Send!"

Verbing of America

The Retired Pedagogue of Arden Hills: "My wife and I had both signed a 'Thank You' card for Eve's kindergarten teacher. As I picked up the sealed envelope, my wife said: 'Let me know when you're going to postage it.' "

BULLETIN BOARD SAYS: That sounds suspiciously like a naked bid for a mention in Bulletin Board. And whattya know! It worked!

Band Name of the Day: Short and Gray

Website of the Day, fromVertically Challenged: "This art work intricately cut in leaves is absolutely beautiful!" -- at tinyurl.com/leafed-art